carla m

wow im running behind my great neice haley is 9 i need to get her started so ill have someone to will my machines and stash to ??? i just thought she was a bit young and sorta thought id wait til she showed an interest. i did plan on bringing her to to visit for a week this summer and there really isnt alot to do here as i live in kind of a small town.
carla

cathyvv

I was thinking about explaining to him that people, men and women, in the military are responsible for keeping their uniforms in good order, and they can't always send them home to Mom or get to a cleaners. But he's not ready for the message, if you know what I mean.

He was going on about being bored and not being able to spend time with his siblings because they were busy. (They are in the middle of a messy family situation; I am, as their uncle says, Switzerland.) I reminded him that he made the decision not to make a small quilt and that he would have to live with it. He called his grandmother and asked her to come get him because he was bored - twice! It's a 5 hour round trip and we had to bring all the kids home the next day! I was fuming when I found out, but gained control before I spoke to him. Then I told him that I had never seen a person so devoted to a child as his grandmother was to him, and that calling her to drive 5 hours round trip was the most INCONSIDERATE thing he could have done when he was going home the next day. I explained a few other facts of life to him - like that he is in control of whether he is bored, happy, angry - not me, not his grandmother, not his friends, not his parents - just him. And I ended it by looking into his eyes and saying, "I love you. That was my decision, it will continue to be my decision. Now I'm done talking to you about this. You decide whether you want to have fun or be bored and unhappy. If you choose to be unhappy, we will not feel sorry for you and we will not let you ruin the fun for anyone else."

I don't think anyone ever spoke to him like that before. He brooded over it for awhile and then decided to have fun. If he learned anything from all that, then he had a successful week, even if he was bored.

CarolLady

That is such a cool story and they did a great job!

craftybear

wow, lots of fun for you and the kids

janedb

wow i am so impressed. they certainly have what it takes to sew and quilt. may they both have a long and happy sewing life.

VickyS

CathyV, Congrats on having 3 grandkids to learn with. The two youngest did great jobs on their first quilts, which I'm sure will stay with them the rest of their lives.

Congrats too, on dealing with Gage. That description is one of the BEST "tell it to 'em straight" explanations of tough love! Sometimes you just have to give it to them in love and it sounds like it really paid off in the end.

Best wishes.

Stitchnripper

How nice to see! They are adorable and the quilts are great!!

amma

What awesome quilts and great memories too! :D:D:D

ruck9085

I guess I'm pretty lucky that I have three teen-aged DGDs that love to quilt. Of course I also have 9 DGSs that don't! The kids did great jobs on their quilts. Isn't it nice to be able to occupy them?